05/29/2026
As May draws to a close, I find myself doing what this month always invites me to do — pausing. Remembering. Feeling grateful in a way that is quiet and deep.
My name is Sandra Song. I am the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology at University Canada West. I am also a Korean Canadian woman, and the daughter of two of the most extraordinary people I have ever known.
My parents came to Canada from Korea in 1970.
I have said those words many times, but I am not sure I always say them slowly enough to honour what they actually mean. 1970. A new country. A new language. A climate that must have felt relentless. A culture that was, in so many ways, not built with them in mind. And yet — they came. They stayed. They built.
They did not come with much. But they brought with them something that no immigration form could ever capture: an unshakeable belief that education was the way forward. That hard work was its own form of dignity. That family was the foundation of everything.
I watched my parents navigate spaces that were not always welcoming. I watched them work harder than anyone around them, ask for less than they deserved, and pour everything they had into making sure that my life would have more room in it than theirs did.
Because of them, I get to be here.
Not just as a Dean — though that still moves me every time I think about it. But as a Korean Canadian woman who was taught, from the very beginning, that her identity was not a limitation. It was a lantern.
As Asian Heritage Month comes to a close, I want to say something to the students, colleagues, and community members who carry stories like mine — stories of parents who sacrificed, of cultures held close across oceans, of belonging that had to be built rather than inherited:
Your story matters. Not just during this month. Every single day.
And to the broader community — I hope May has offered you a moment to listen to a story that wasn't your own. Because that, I believe, is how we build something worth belonging to.
Thank you, Umma and Appa. For everything.
Happy Asian Heritage Month. 🌸
